ALDERMAN WHITE SCHOOL Prospectus Welcome to Alderman White Part of the White Hills Park Trust
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ALDERMAN WHITE SCHOOL Prospectus Welcome to Alderman White part of the White Hills Park Trust At Alderman White School we want the very best for your child. We work with you to ensure that their time with us is happy and successful, so they achieve the qualifications and develop the personal attributes to build a positive, successful adult life. Young people at Alderman White School are known by name and their individual potential and needs are supported and encouraged. We are exceptionally proud of the achievements of the school. In recent years we have built a record of improvement and success recognised by the Ofsted ‘Good’ judgement in our 2017 inspection. Our students go on to attend colleges and universities, including Oxbridge and Russell Group universities in growing numbers, alongside students who successfully enter the world of work. The future looks bright for Alderman White. We have exciting plans in place to continue the improvement in student achievement, to develop the richness of our curriculum and to build upon our strong relationship with our local community. We look forward to welcoming you and your child to Alderman White School as they enter the next stage of their educational journey. Paul Heery: Executive Principal White Hills Park Trust Head of School: Mrs Mellors I feel very privileged to be the Head of this wonderful school. Our INSPIRE values (integrity, nurture, success, perseverance, innovation, responsibility, engagement) can be seen in every aspect of our work – we are constantly striving to inspire our students, but find that they often inspire us too! Students at our school make very good progress. This does not happen by chance, but through staff knowing every young person as an individual, and supporting and challenging them to achieve even more than they think is possible. Alderman White is a real “community of opportunity for all”. The school has a well-deserved reputation for the quality and range of trips, visits, performances and extra-curricular opportunities available, helping our students to become well rounded, confident young adults. We are constantly striving to make our school even better and our students and parents play a vital role in this, through our School Council, Parent Forum and Parent Teacher Association. Our school benefits from working closely with the other schools including those in the White Hills Park Federation Trust, and many of our students attend the Trust 6th Form. I hope that you would like to learn more about what we do and can offer your son or daughter, and I look forward to seeing you at our Open Evening in September. We welcome visits to see us in action – please contact reception to arrange an opportunity to visit during the school day. “We wanted a school where our daughter would be happy, be cared for and be able to learn. We came away from the final assembly feeling very happy with the choice we made for her and the school experience she has had.” (parent of a Year 11 student) “ Leaders encourage parents to become involved in their child’s education. Almost all parents felt that the school responded well to their questions or concerns.” (OFSTED, March 2017) What our students say “Here at Alderman White the combination of good teaching, a strong sense of community and togetherness and the positive attitude of all the students makes for a great learning environment and, most importantly a great school.” “I really enjoy the fact that we are a small school. It means that everyone knows everyone else and the teachers know us really well too. This means that Alderman White feels like home and no matter what is going on we can learn to the best of our ability.” “One of the things I love about Alderman White is the extra-curricular activities, there really is something for everyone. I particularly like the plays, as there is a lovely community feel because there is such a mix of people who get involved. They have really improved my confidence since Year 7. I take part in a variety of sports clubs at lunch times which I thoroughly enjoy; we also have matches against other schools so we can put our skills to the test.” “Alderman White is such a supportive school; no matter what the problem is someone will find a solution to make your time at school happy and inspiring. There is a range of subjects on offer, so there’s something for everyone. You can learn such a range of skills which will help you in the future. Making learning fun can be a challenge, however, Alderman White has it mastered.” “Over the past five years I have learnt a lot in lessons and the teachers have also taught me key skills for life.” YEAR 11 STUDENT Pastoral Care and Guidance At Alderman White School the happiness, wellbeing and success of our students is at the heart of everything we do. The pastoral system is central to all the support we offer students. The Student Support Centre, known at The Base, is where all the pastoral staff are located. Mrs Floate and Mrs Holling, Assistant Headteachers responsible for KS4 and KS3 respectively, have a team of Senior Teaching Assistants and Student Support Mentors who provide additional support for achievement, behaviour and learning. Ms Floate and Mrs Holling lead a team of form tutors, who are the main contact for students and parents. Form tutors meet with their students at the start of every day. The tutor programme provides students with the opportunity to discuss social, moral and cultural issues along with tracking and reviewing of academic progress. At Alderman White we pride ourselves in working closely with local feeder primary schools to make transition into the school as smooth and inspiring as possible. Year 6 students are invited to three induction days in the summer term to give them a chance to make new friends, meet new teachers and become familiar with the school before they start with us in September. “Pupils conduct is exemplary.” Ofsted 2017 Supporting ALL students We pride ourselves on a highly inclusive approach to teaching our students with special educational needs at Alderman White. All students are offered access to a broad curriculum, and provision is then tailored to meet individuals’ needs. We inspire and enthuse our students by supporting them in class through a range of differentiated teaching approaches, with additional support from teaching assistants where required. In addition to this, we run highly successful and engaging intervention programmes in literacy, numeracy and social skills to meet individual students’ needs. At Key Stage 4 we offer a large range of appropriate courses to meet students’ needs and prepare them for the wider world. At the start of GCSE courses students are assessed for access arrangements for examinations to ensure that they perform to the best of their ability. In the identification and support of children with SEND a graduated response is followed and reviewed regularly in consultation with parents and the student. We make sure that they have the right provision to continue to support their needs and encourage their development. “Leaders set high targets for pupils’ achievement. They discuss these targets with pupils during ‘target tackling time’, where pupils reflect on their progress. Pupils want to succeed because school leaders and their teachers believe that they can.” Ofsted 2017 How the Trust and Bramcote College 6th Form benefit our students Through our partnership with Bramcote College and Bramcote College 6th Form, as well as Bramcote College (11-16 school), we are able to achieve the feel of a small school with the advantages of a much larger establishment by sharing the facilities and events on offer at both of our sites. This enhances the learning experience of our students. The Trust allows us to share expertise and provide a richer education to all of our students. We maintain the advantages of each school having its own identity and combine this with the strengths of a larger organisation to provide a broad range of facilities and to attract a variety of specialist staff. The advantage for our students is that they are treated as an individual in a small secondary school whilst studying a greater range of courses and taking part in more extra-curricular events through the Trust. After their GCSE exams, students can continue their studies at Bramcote College 6th Form which embodies the strengths of the Trust: a broad curriculum tailored to meet the needs of every one of our students, which is delivered by staff who know them well and can engage and inspire them. In 2018 85% of Bramcote College 6th Form students got into their first-choice university, many of which are Russell Group universities. Curriculum “Pupils follow a stimulating programme that prepares most of them for the English Baccalaureate group of qualifications. The curriculum offers many rich opportunities for pupils to think about equality and fairness.” Ofsted 2017 We pride ourselves on the breadth and choice within the curriculum. We develop our students’ interests, skills and confidence for a lifetime of learning. At Key Stage 3 we lay the foundations to make our students confident and enthused learners, ready to make informed choices about their future. As Alderman White is a member of the larger White Hills Park Trust, when students are ready to choose their options we are able to offer courses as diverse as Photography, Psychology and Business Studies to name just a few …… We believe that, as students move through the school, they need to be able to select courses that stimulate their interest, support their future aspirations and give them a strong foundation for their future education and career choices.